Equal Protection Clause facts for kids

The Equal Protection Clause is part of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The clause, which took effect in 1868, provides that no state shall deny to any person within its jurisdiction "the equal protection of the laws".

State vs federal governments

The Equal Protection Clause itself applies only to the federal government. However, the Supreme Court held in Bolling v. Sharpe (1954) that equal protection requirements apply to state and local governments through the Due Process Clause of the Fifth Amendment.

Images for kids

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  Congressman John Bingham of Ohio was the principal framer of the Equal Protection Clause.

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  This drawing by E. W. Kemble shows a sleeping Congress with a broken 14th Amendment. It makes the case that Congress ignored its constitutional obligations to Black Americans.

See also

In Spanish: Cláusula sobre protección igualitaria para niños